I Want to be a Forensic Artist More Than Anything….

….BUT:
I don’t want to join Law Enforcement
I don’t want to work odd hours or be on-call
I don’t want to move
I don’t want to take a pay cut
I don’t want to pay for my own training
I don’t want to do the work without getting recognition for it
I don’t want to testify in court
I don’t want to learn anatomy
I don’t want to learn new software
I don’t want to look at pictures of dead people
I really don’t want to look at real dead people

Oh, ok. Now that we’re on the same page…

I don’t mean to be sarcastic, truly, but this is what forensic artists hear all the time, and for me personally, I just want to hit something.  But, for the first minute or two of the phone call, we can get sucked in…. “they care….they’re one of us….I want to help them.”  But we keep talking, and sooner later there is usually a deal-breaker. (See any one of the above.)

If you really, sincerely want to be in this field, and are willing to do any and all of the above, I can tell you that you will be welcomed with open arms into the forensic art community. It’s a tight-knit group, but there is always room for one more, and trust me, we want new, talented, motivated people in the field. So you may want to read over that list again, have to have a good long talk with yourself, and see if you still want to go for it.

For what it’s worth, I never thought in a million years that I would be a forensic artist; that I would hold a human skull in my hands and not think anything unusual about it.  But at that time I was a graphic artist, and couldn’t imagine I’d be in this field. So there you go, people change, and I found my calling.  I’ve  handled lots of skulls since then, and didn’t think a thing about it.

But once you decide you want to be a forensic artist, or the realization slowly creeps up on you, you will come to terms with certain facts of forensic art life. You will generally not get fame or adoration or a movie deal or shake hands with the Mayor. But you won’t mind, because once it gets its hooks in you, you won’t care. You will just do it because you love it.